Luxury stores' off-price boutiques start opening in Belmont Park Village, part of $1.5B redevelopment

Off-price versions of luxury stores are starting to open in the new retail portion of the $1.5 billion redevelopment project aimed at turning Belmont Park into a shopping, entertainment and hospitality destination.

Part of the redevelopment plan that included the construction of UBS Arena in Elmont, the new retail site, called Belmont Park Village, is a 340,000-square-foot open-air shopping center with outlets of high-end European and American boutiques that was developed by Value Retail, a London-based company.

Located at 2601 Hempstead Tpke., Belmont Park Village is Value Retail’s first U.S. village — and 12th overall — in The Bicester Collection, which are the company's luxury boutique villages that are part of sports, hospitality and/or entertainment developments. The company has nine retail villages in Europe and two in China.

Although Belmont Park Village and the other 11 sites in The Bicester Collection have off-price versions of upscale boutiques, they are not characterized as traditional outlet shopping centers, said Jason Katz, chief commercial officer at Value Retail.

"One of our challenges here in the U.S. will be, there’s a perception, especially on Long Island, about what an outlet could be. We’re really changing it ... really creating the luxury outlet and the first thing that we’re doing is really focusing on experience to have people have a great day out," he said.

So far, eight tenants have opened in Belmont Park Village: AllSaints, John Varvatos, Longchamp, PAIGE, Palm Angels, Swarovski and Jacob Cohën. Missoni, Vivienne Westwood, Roberto Cavalli, Rains and others will set up shop by the end of this year, Katz said.

When it is fully leased, the retail village will have 155 stores and seven eateries, he said.

Katz expects Belmont Park Village to pull the stylish customer with a "discerning taste level" who is looking for a shopping experience, and that could be a shopper in any price category, he said.

"Our average length of stay at our villages around the world is over four hours. And that’s the type of ... escape destination that we’re trying to create," he said.

But Belmont Park Village could be potentially competing with nearby upscale retail centers, some observers say.

About 9 miles away is Americana Manhasset, a shopping center whose tenants include Chanel, Dior, Gucci and Louis Vuitton. Roosevelt Field, a shopping mall in Uniondale located about 8 miles from Belmont Park, has upscale stores that include Burberry, Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Rolex.

There will be some crossover of customers, but most of those going to Belmont Park Village will not be pulled from Long Island shopping centers, said retail real estate veteran Gene Spiegelman, a partner at Ripco Real Estate in Woodbury.

"It’s going to pull international shoppers who would otherwise not shop in this trade area. It’s going to pull customers who would otherwise go to Manhattan or would go up to Woodbury Premium Outlets [in Orange County]," said Spiegelman, who did advisory work for Value Retail when it was considering bringing its village to Long Island.

Part of the appeal of Belmont Park Village will be its close proximity to Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, LIRR access in the park, and experiential setting that encourages people to extend their visits, he said.

Located in the town of Hempstead, Elmont doesn't have a downtown with a unified area of businesses, but instead has "pockets of businesses" on Hempstead Turnpike, Dutch Broadway, Elmont Road, Mecham Avenue and other streets, said Julie Marchesella, president of the Elmont Chamber of Commerce.

She hopes Belmont Park Village will lead to more people visiting local stores outside the park, she said.

"Anything that will bring economic development to that area of Elmont is a good thing," she said.

'Aims to revitalize'

Belmont Park Village, construction of which started in April 2022, is the second phase of the privately financed redevelopment project that will add new retail, entertainment and hotel offerings to 43 acres of the park property, which is owned by the state.

The project is on "formerly underutilized parking lots," according to Empire State Development, the state’s economic development agency.

The redevelopment has included the construction of the 19,000-seat UBS Arena, which opened in 2021 and is the home of the New York Islanders, as well as the Elmont-UBS Arena LIRR Station and a 1,500-space parking garage, both of which were completed in 2022.

New York Arena Partners, a group formed by Oak View Group, the New York Islanders and Jeff Wilpon with Sterling Project Development serving as development manager, was the lead on the redevelopment of UBS Arena and is ground leasing the property from Empire State Development.

Value Retail, through an affiliate, BPV Retail Holdings LLC, is ground-leasing the retail portion of the property from the state agency.

The redevelopment project also will include the construction of a 250-room hotel.

Separate from the retail, hotel and arena projects, the New York Racing Association is modernizing thoroughbred racing facilities at Belmont Park. The work will include the replacement of the 1.25 million-square-foot grandstand with a state-of-the art facility of about 275,000 square feet that will open in September 2026, said Patrick McKenna, spokesman for the racing association.

The Belmont Stakes, which is the third leg of horse racing's Triple Crown, moved to the Saratoga Race Course because of the construction work and will return to Belmont in 2026.

The racing project is being financed with a $455 million loan from the state.

Belmont Park’s redevelopment "aims to revitalize the area by transforming previously underutilized surplus land, into a world-class destination for sports, entertainment, retail and hospitality, while strengthening the local economy and boosting tourism," Empire State Development said.

By Tory N. Parrish

tory.parrish@newsday.comToryParrish1

Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.